The Monstrous Movie Clip Of The Day: As Cool McCool Says "When You're Right, Number One, You're Right"

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Terri Furr Pressley

Just try and name every cartoon and classic commercial in this great clip that I now refer to as "fifteen minutes of pure retro joy!". In know I did and I almost went blind! Granted the task wasn't too difficult on my end because I'm actually ... ahem ... cough ... old enough to remember just about all of them.

For all of you out there too young to remember any of these shows let me clue you into the fact that in a time long ago, but not forgotten, yet, Saturday morning television was not the vast entertainment wasteland it is today. No sir, Saturday morning television was three channels (NBC, ABC & CBS .. yes there was a time when there were only three) of non-stop animation and really cool programs aimed at young people that lasted from 6 am to noon. Yes, a whole six hours!

To break it down for you, a lot the shows on Adult Swim, well they are based off "real" Saturday morning shows from the sixties and seventies. Oh ... check out Boomerang some time!

Okay let's see if I can do this? Play along at home if you like!

"Spiderman"
"H.R. Pufnstuf"
That damn "Life" cereal commercial ... "Hey Mikey! He Likes It!"
"Davey and Goliath"
"Time Bomb" ... okay I don't know that one. Any show that gives kids the idea that explosives are okay sounds irresponsible to me! That's the parent in me talking. I'm just mad that I didn't get to blow stuff up!
"Stratego"
"Casper"
"The Beatles"
"Atom Ant"
"Secret Squirrel"
"Top Cat"
"BASH!" ... a game that looks like you get to beat the crap out of some poor slob with a hammer! God I miss the days when mindless violence was cool.
"Electro-Shot Shooting Gallery" ... back when guns were cool! What has happened to us?
"Underdog" .. who can kick the ass of every one of those lame superheroes in the clip before it.
"Boggle"
"The Jetsons" .. okay I know you've heard of that one!
"King Kong" ... yep the big guy had a cartoon series that was made in Japan (See King Kong Escapes)
"Mystery Date" ... A meat market for young girls ... wanna know why you never live up to your girls expectations? Thank you Milton Bradley!!!
"The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" ... the coolest intro (next to Johnny Quest) ever!! .. "Overture, curtain, lights! This is it. The night of nights. No more rehearsing or nursing a part. We know every part by heart!"
"Space Ghost"
Um ... a game where you overload a camel until his spine snaps ... again great idea!
"Magilla Gorilla"

Okay ... enough of that I have Attention Deficit Disorder so I can't keep that up for fifteen minutes!

You get the idea anyway just about everything that was ultra cool to us kids back in the late sixties and seventies condensed into one glob of images that makes us pine away for days gone bye and gives us the bragging rights over the younger generation who grew up with sub par programing.

(I'm laughing and pointing) Ha Ha!

Here are the words to the Bugs Bunny intro:

"The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour."
(curtain rises)
"Overture, curtain, lights!
This is it. The night of nights.
No more rehearsing or nursing a part.
We know every part by heart!
(cane flip)
Overture, curtain, lights!
This is it. We'll hit the heights!
And oh, what heights we'll hit!
On with the show, this is it!
(character procession)
Tonight what heights we'll hit!
On with the show, this is it!"
"Starring the Oscar-winning rabbit, Bugs Bunny."
"And also starring my fast-feathered friend, the Road Runner!"
(Road Runner zips forward on film projector screen)
"Beep, beep!"
"Road Runner, that Coyote's after you!
Road Runner, if he catches you, you're through!
Road Runner, that Coyote's after you!
Road Runner, if he catches you, you're through!
That Coyote is really a crazy clown!
When will he learn that he never can slow him down?
Poor little Road Runner never bothers anyone.
Just running down the road is his idea of having fun!"
"Beep, beep!"
"The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour."

When will that Coyote ever learn?

The Flintstones Say "Smoke Em If Ya Got Em Kids"

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Cartoon characters smoking? WTF!

It is hard to fathom that a cigarette company would use cartoon characters to sell it's product to children, but that is exactly what Winston Cigarettes did back in the early 1960's.

During the original run of The Flinstones the show was sponsored by several different companies, one of them Winston Cigarettes. To showcase the sponsor's products Hanna-Barbera (the animation company that produced The Flintstones) produced several add spots featuring their beloved characters using the products ..... even smoking cigarettes.

Today such a advertising campaign would be strictly taboo .... but back in 1961 nobody thought twice about it and the adds aired on prime-time television for the whole family, including youngsters, to see. It is pretty damn obvious that these adds, though made for adults (The Flintstones, though animated, was considered adult viewing), were really designed to get kids to take up smoking.

Screw you Joe Camel .... we got Fred and Barney!

I actually think that there was an add with The Great Gazoo reading a Playboy and drinking Coors beer ..... but I may be mistaken.

All jokes aside these adds did air at the end of every episode of The Flintstones back in the day.

Here are an example of some of these commercials:



There are just soooo many things that are not PC about this one! "Hey Barney let's sit on our fat prehistoric butts while the women folk do all the hard work .....". Forget the fact that they are smoking for a minute and think about how much of an uproar there would be today for Betty and Wilma being portrayed as female servants to their male husbands alone.

You've come a long way baby!



This is the kinda stuff that you will never see on Boomerang!





Okay, the last one is a Jelly add .... which would be okay .... except for the fact that it promotes obesity in children. Which is now a big no-no! In fact Fred and Barney are a bit on the heavy side so maybe the whole show should be banned?

Sounds crazy right?

You never know? Things are getting kinda weird around Washington.

Just saying ....

See Also: Travel Back In Time With Clips From Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Man Called Flintstone (1966)

King Kong Attacks Santa Monica Pier

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Dread Central / Universal Studios

Local residents were surprised to find 15-foot long footprints in the sand at Santa Monica beach yesterday morning.

Reportedly, a local fisherman was the only eyewitness to whatever made these prints, “Everything started shaking,” he said. “Then I saw this thing. Bigger than any whale ... eyes dark and menacing, teeth as big as the poles under the pier here.”

No, Godzilla has not come ashore in California.......yet.

In actuality, the prints were created for for a new viral video advertisement for Universal Studio's new "King Kong 360 3D" attraction.

Even though they were for a commercial, the sight of giant footprints, and a smashed SUV, near the Santa Monica Pier turned more than a few heads.

Here is a press release about the attraction plus the new video and another photo:

King Kong, among the screen’s most powerful and enduring icons, will re-emerge in Summer 2010 as a new signature attraction created under the direction of Peter Jackson on the famed Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour.

"King Kong 360 3-D" Created by Peter Jackson will be the world's largest most intense 3D experience on the planet, combining thrilling visceral effects to create a next-generation theme park experience.

Peter Jackson, director of the Oscar®-winning 2005 Universal Pictures film upon which the attraction is based, said: "The new King Kong at Universal Studios Hollywood will be an incredible amount of fun and a chance to really push film and theme park technology. Aboard the Universal tram, you'll get a wrap-around view of the action through a process involving eight 3-D images shot and projected at 60 frames per second. The film and tram will be tied into a motion simulator that will allow you to physically experience this pulse-pounding spectacle, which includes a fight between Kong and a group of V-Rex, the larger cousins of the T-Rex. You’ll find yourself right in the middle of the action."

"King Kong 360 3-D" Created by Peter Jackson will be the first theme park attraction to be directed by the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Larry Kurzweil, President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Studios Hollywood, said: "King Kong has been an integral part of Universal Studios Hollywood for decades and, after the 2008 fire, we knew he had to be reintroduced as a new, groundbreaking, thoroughly over-the-top experience that will thrill new generations of Studio Tour guests. King Kong 360 will be the most exhilarating feature of our world-famous Studio Tour, setting the bar at a new level for immersive theme park experiences."

In the new attraction, guests will be given special 3-D glasses as they enter a darkened soundstage aboard the Studio Tour trams and will be transported— via the magic of Surround Digital 3D projection —deep into a tangled jungle location. They’ll survive a close encounter with a swarm of hungry raptors, only to be confronted by the terrifying presence of 35' tall dinosaur behemoths, intent on attacking the tram and Studio Tour guests.

Suddenly, a 25' tall gorilla appears - Kong himself! The trams jolt and shudder as the guests find themselves caught in the middle of a titanic struggle between these colossal prehistoric foes - the great ape and carnivorous reptiles - action which sends the packed trams sliding ever closer to the edge of a bottomless chasm.

King Kong, known as "the eighth wonder of the world," has been called "the experience for which movies were invented." Since first appearing on the screen in the 1933 original classic, "King Kong" has been re-made twice, each time on a tremendous scale, earning a total of seven Oscar® and three Golden Globe® nominations. Most recently, Peter Jackson’s 2005 version took classic elements of the original "King Kong" story and adrenalized them with up-to-the-minute effects magic and the alchemic talents of a superlative group of filmmakers, cast and crew. Released to critical acclaim in late 2005, "King Kong" was a worldwide hit.

The arrival of the new "King Kong 360 3-D" Created by Peter Jackson experience coincides with major enhancements to the iconic Studio Tour. The most extensive backlot construction ever in the history of Universal Studios, which includes re-creations of legendary Hollywood sets and the introduction of brand-new shooting locations, will make the renowned Studio buzz with star-studded film and television production as never before. Studio trams were recently equipped as "mobile movie theaters" with state-of-the-art flat-screen high-definition monitors and digital playback systems. The new high-definition monitors feature commentary from filmmakers, actors and personalities. Clips from numerous movie and television productions, corresponding to sites visited along the Tour route, add a new dimension to the tour of backlot attractions, sets and facades.



See Also: The Original KING KONG Comes To Blu-ray September 28th! / Godzilla 2012 Facebook Group Update - 500 Members And The Thread Of The Week! / Godzilla (And Friends) In The News 05/11/10 - How Does King Kong vs Godzilla Rank Among Monster Battles? More Gamera And Kamen Rider DVD Stuff / Godzilla And Friends Stomp Their Way To Topeka / A Classic Godzilla Comic Strip - The Monsters That Devoured Canarsie / King Kong vs Godzilla (Kingukongu tai Gojira)(1962)(Toho)

Godzilla Invades The UK Candy Scene - The Chewits 'Monster Muncher'

Written By: Ken Hulsey

In keeping with articles that illustrate just how much Godzilla has influenced pop culture, not only in Japan and the United States, but the entire world, I want to introduce you to the Chewits candy, 'Monster Muncher'

In 1976, the Leaf International company in the UK began running television adverts for their soft taffy candy, called Chewits, featuring a Godzilla-like clay dinosaur called the 'Monster Muncher'.

In the commercials, the 'Muncher' would either rise up out of the Thames, or be hiding, comically, as a statue or behind a house. The hungry monster would, in true Godzilla fashion, start smashing buildings looking for a snack to satisfy it's gigantic apatite.

Of course, the only thing that could satisfy the 'Monster Muncher' were gigantic packs of Chewits candy.

The adds were shot to resemble a 1950s style monster movie, and were a huge hit in the UK and ran for twenty years.

In 1995, Leaf International, began to replace their clay monster with puppets, and then ultimately, with a cartoon dinosaur called 'Chewie'.

In 2003 a new ad campaign was launched to replace 'Chewie', but in the end, the now iconic dino would win out, now officially called 'Chewie the Chewitsaurus'.

Today, the dinosaur has once again gotten a complete make-over, and is now a CGI animated character.

For those of us here in America, Chewits are soft taffy candy, that kinda look like Starburst, that come in flavors like, Strawberry, Blackcurrant, Orange, Banana, Ice Cream, Cola, Rhubarb & Custard, and Blue Mint.

I think that it is safe to say that "Rhubarb & Custard" wouldn't fly here in The States.

Isn't it interesting how the UK based Leaf International, would pass over the countries own giant monsters, "The Giant Behemoth", "Gorgo", "Konga" and "Queen Kong" for a mascot that resembled "Godzilla".

Then again, would you want to buy candy from "Queen Kong"?

I wouldn't either.

Here are some examples of the 'Monster Muncher's" escapades from the 1980s:










Remember - "Chew For Victory!"